The Geography Blog focusing on all things geography: human, physical, technical, space, news, and geopolitics. Also known as Geographic Travels with Catholicgauze!
Written by a former National Geographic employee who also proudly served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Pages

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Happy Birthday Nicolas Steno, Founder of Geology

Nicolas Steno: Sort of a geological Catholicgauze. As Bishop he sold his bishop's cross and ring and donated the money to the poor.

Nicolas Steno
was a Danish Renaissance man who believed in proving to himself long
held beliefs and disgrading things shown to be false. This strong drive
for the truth led him to become the founder of geology and laid the
ground work for the development of archaeology and paleontology. His
first major test was analyzing his Lutheran beliefs. When Steno
reasoned that Catholicism was more grounded in traditional Christianity than
Lutheranism Steno converted. He would study and follow his new faith
all the way to becoming a bishop.

But geographers and other earth scientists better know Steno for his geological work. Early on Nicolas Steno realized that glossopetrae
– literally 'tongue stones' were not fallen moon rocks or weird natural
growths but instead fossils of shark teeth. Later on Steno discovered
rock strata were actually layers of rock which formed on top of each
other over time. He stated the deeper one digs into the earth the older
the material. Before Steno this was too much a leap for scientists to
realize due to the general scientific disinterest in anything below the
Earth's surface unless it was for alchemy. His discovery also ended the belief in an unchanging creationist Earth. Since then all science has agreed the Earth is dynamic.

Steno's birthday is January 11th and his popularity has spiked today
due to Google celebrating his life with a "Google Doodle" showing
strata.